The team behind our Paralympians: ASC staff in Paris

05 September 2024

As we cheer on our Paralympians in Paris, we’re also celebrating the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) staff on the ground, supporting our athletes every step of the way.

ASC CEO Kieren Perkins pictured at the Athlete Village Recovery Hub with Dr Steph Davies and Dr Peta Maloney.

The ASC team at the Games includes AIS Sports Engineer Lead Andy Richardson, who as well as working on several customised equipment projects in the lead-up to the Paralympics, is providing technical and mechanical support on the ground in Paris.

“My focus is supporting Para cycling and Para triathlon athletes and coaches with their equipment as we have delivered a lot of customised equipment for these athletes,” Richardson said.

“However, I am available for all athletes and staff in need of mechanical troubleshooting or repair."

Supporting the team with recovery and heat management is REST Hub Senior Advisor Dr Peta Maloney, alongside Senior Recovery Physiologist Dr Steph Davies.

The recovery hub at the Athlete Village features purpose-built chilling units and specially designed ice baths/seats that are accessible for our Paralympians.

“Each day, I support the delivery of recovery and heat management strategies, completing athlete consultations, helping prepare eskies with cooling and nutrition requirements, providing competition support to implement cooling plans, and cleaning and maintaining equipment in the Recovery Hub,” Maloney said.

On hand for medical and injury management is AIS Female Performance and Health Initiative Lead Dr Rachel Harris, who is working as the Australian Paralympic Team​ Doctor, while Luke Roberts is the team Nurse, and Paula Peralta the Physical Therapies Lead.

“It’s exciting to be part of what I consider to be an extraordinary team of professionals, all with the same goal of providing the best possible environment for our athletes to perform at their highest level,” Roberts said.

Luke Roberts (left) pictured at the AIS European Training Centre ETC in Italy prior to Paris with Dr David Hughes (AIS Chief Medical Officer) and Kristian Waller (AIS ETC Physiotherapist).

Meanwhile, AIS Lead Physician Dr Richard Saw and AIS Senior Physiotherapist Darren McMillan are assisting track and field athletes to thrive, working as the doctor and physio for the Australian Para Athletics Team.

Beyond performance support, the Paralympic Insights Project Team have had their own mission while in Paris.

Bill Tait (Director of Performance Systems and Paralympic Partnerships), Michelle De Highden (High-Performance Coach Development Senior Lead) and Miranda Menaspa (Manager of National Performance) have been busy seeking out ways to give Team Australia a competitive edge at future Games.

ASC's Michelle De Highden and Miranda Menaspa gathering pictured with Paul Kiteley from Paralympics Australia.

“We are specifically looking to gain insights from other nations around events for which we are not currently winning medals in but will need to be in future Games cycles if we're going to achieve our system’s ambitions of having our best Games ever in Brisbane,” Tait said.

“We’ll be looking at things in the field, as well as things that were done to support athletes in training and on the way to and from the start and finish lines.”

While we’re not ready for the Paris Games to be over soon, we can’t wait to see what potential these insights will unlock for the future.